• Ball State was picked to finish first in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the league’s preseason poll, which is selected by the MAC’s 12 head coaches.

• The Cardinals return 18 letterwinners from a 2013 team that posted a 31-24 overall record and a 15-12 mark in MAC play.

• Ball State finished second in the MAC West Division last season and advanced to the championship game of the conference tournament before being eliminated by Bowling Green.

• Ball State head coach Rich Maloney is in his second season in his second stint as the Cardinals head coach. Maloney was Ball State’s head coach from 1996-2002 and then returned to coach the Cardinals in 2013. He enters the 2014 season tied for the 50th best winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches with a .604 mark.

• The Cardinals improvement from a 14-36 record in 2012 to a 31-24 mark in 2013 marked the eighth best turnaround in the NCAA.

• Scott Baker leads the Cardinals pitching staff after earning MAC Pitcher of the Year honors in 2013 and receiving the inaugural Gregg Olson Award as the nation’s comeback player of the year.